It was a dream come true for 25-year-old Sydney Olympic FC star Claudia Cholakian who recently represented the Armenian National Women’s side in a recent FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifier.
Swapping the Sydney suburb of Chatswood for the Armenian capital of Yerevan, it was an experience the attacker stated will cherish for the rest of her life.
“I was contacted by the Armenian Football Federation (AFF) who invited me to play for the national team and the rest was history,” Cholakian stated to Football NSW.
“My dad is Armenian, and my mum is Australian. I don’t speak Armenian, but I have started to learn a few words and would like to learn more. No one in my family had ever been to Armenia until this trip, including my dad who was originally born in Jordan, so it was an amazing experience.”
Asked how the training camp, qualifiers and setup was with the National Team, Cholakian stated that Armenia are slowly but surely developing women’s football for the better.
“It’s a very professional set up at the football academy with a lot of people working behind the scenes to support the team. The standard of football isn’t as high as what we see in Australia, but this is understandable as the team has only just started up again in 2019 after not having a women’s national team for almost a decade.
“The effort and desire to improve and compete is there which is most important.
“We only have two more FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers left but is isn’t possible for us to qualify due to previous results. After this, the focus will be on the Euro Qualifications.
“Most of the players play in the local Armenian professional league with a few players playing in the USA, Spain, and Greece.”
Cholakian also had the opportunity to explore the beautiful country whilst keeping fit as she prepares to take part once again in the National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s competition with George Beltsos’ Sydney Olympic squad for the 2022 season.
It was an injury disrupted season for the female star in 2021, but has pinned her hopes on a big season ahead with Olympic.
“I am really looking forward to the year with Sydney Olympic as we hope to push for both titles being the Premiership and Championship in what is a highly talented squad.
“It wasn’t the best of years due to being injured in 2021 so on a personal level I want to do my best in playing as many matches as possible and staying injury free.”
Cholakian is hoping to be involved in this Sunday’s round 3 clash against Bankstown City FC at Jensen Park, a match the Blues hope to get back to their winning ways after suffering an opening 3-0 loss to Manly United over the Easter long weekend.
